It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

[Gabriel]

Hey all,

Had a pretty busy weekend. Met up with woodturnerjosh and a mate of his to tackle a recently felled silky oak. I have to take my hat off to josh, he wielded his chsinsaw all day without a hint of slowing down!! I was relying on his experience in breaking the monster down whilst I offered moral support and the occasional wise crack.

Sunday I spent in the backyard processing the bits I took home (photos to follow soon).... after a bunch of end grain sealing and stacking, I have some very large chunks ready to test the capabilities of the new lathe. I would never really think to turn things as large as I made the blanks, but I wanna see what my lathe can do - and the opportunity was there. I will probably try my hand at green turning a couple of bowls, and leave the others for 10 plus years to dry.

Here is where the worst of times started. ... Monday I woke with puffy eyes (well they looked like pee holes on the snow!!!) And now on Wednesday I still look like I have come off second best in a bar fight!!!

I know that silky oak can trigger allergic reactions in some people, so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. My question is this...... is it likely that the reaction will be less severe with dry timber, or do I cut my losses and pass on my green blocks to others and give these trees a wide birth in future???

Even with the puffy eyes, my luck changed last night as a friend cleaning out his father's shed came across a bunch of slabs his dad had cataloged from clearing their block in somerville! So last night I loaded the ute with claret ash, maple and sycamore slabs (dry and ready to work) they're all about 3ft long and some with a few cracks but still perfect to use and the right price!!!
I'll post a few photos when i get home tonight.

So, if I'm passing the silky oak on, who wants some?? Would love to swap it for some larger blanks so I can still test out the new machine!!

Thanks all

Gab

[Paul39]

Here is some information about timber:

Wood Allergies and Toxicity | The Wood Database (http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/)

More here:

https://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=list+of+wood+and+alergic+reactions&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#channel=fs&q=list+of+wood+and+allergic+reactions

[turnerted]

Gab
A sore throat after turning my first silky oak bowl was what prompted me to get a PP respirator . No problems after that .
I suspect you will have a greater reaction with dry wood as it produces more dust . Get some protection .
Ted

[artful bodger]

Ahh
A tale of two respirators!

[Gabriel]

As promised, a few photos....

Josh hard at work - he may be a dentist so I can't show you his face (actually, he did tell me what he does for a crust but it was WAY too complex for me to understand....and had a really fancy name)
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Here is my loot for the day, after roughing it down a little more and just before I added about 40 gallons of end grain sealer to everything. I left the tape measure in there as a slight scale. Largest bowl blank is about 600mm dia 250 deep. Some of the blocks (for hollow forms) about 200mm sq 600 long

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And finally the score from a friends shed. Mostly sycamore and ash, with some maple thrown in for good measure. All dry and ready to cut up into useful sizes!!....and this stuff wont make my face puff up!!
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Paul39, thanks for putting those links up. I had read through that material a little while ago, but always great to jog the memory and have it there for others who follow this post!!

TurnerTed - I figured that I would have to go down this path at some point anyway (shouldn't we all??) but I guess I was just putting it off if I could. By the time I'm ready to turn any of this stuff (im guessing a LONG wait til its dry, and given my reaction I don't think I'll try green turning any of it) I will make sure I have the full mask/respirator.

Thanks for the interest!!

Gab

[Simplicity]

Wow Gab,
First, I hope you have recovered with no ill effects.
I've read of timber reaction but so far have avoided it.
I haven't heard of it for 90/45 or 90/35 one of the common tree species I use s bit of[emoji3].

I remember seeing this on the forum.
And was going to put my hand up .
After seeing your haul ,I which I had .
Can't wait to see what you do with that lot .
If there as good as your pens ,I patiently wait the ten years or so for them to dry.

Cheers Matt

[Gabriel]

Wow Gab,
First, I hope you have recovered with no ill effects.
I've read of timber reaction but so far have avoided it.
I haven't heard of it for 90/45 or 90/35 one of the common tree species I use s bit of[emoji3].

I remember seeing this on the forum.
And was going to put my hand up .
After seeing your haul ,I which I had .
Can't wait to see what you do with that lot .
If there as good as your pens ,I patiently wait the ten years or so for them to dry.

Cheers Matt

I'm refurbishing a childcare centre at the moment, I think the kids have dubbed me Shrek! ! It's gone down a bit and isn't as itchy, but my face is kinda peeling....

Honestly I think I'm just going to move it all on to people as there are plenty of timbers I'm not allergic to (thank god 90 x 45 is among them) so I'll concentrate on them. I'll put your name on a few (I hear you're making shavings these days)

[cava]

Perfect timber to make a cutting board from, for that special relative in your life. :whistling2:

[Gabriel]

Perfect timber to make a cutting board from, for that special relative in your life. :whistling2:

Maybe a goblet. .... hey... perhaps that was reason jofrey in game if thrones keeled over!!

[Woodturnerjosh]

Hey mate, I just saw this thread.

I've actually had reactions to Camphor laurel before (instant redness and itching but only from green timber) and since then I started using barrier cream on my hands and arms and this stopped the reaction. The one I use is called Hand Shield Liquid Gloves (Industrial).

The last thing any woodworker wants is to become sensitised to the material we all love working with!

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the big block!

Here is what I've done with 5 of the blocks from the smaller tree I cut up on the Sunday...I still have the big stuff to play with! The largest bowl here is about 420mm

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Cheers

Josh

[Gabriel]

Thanks josh, I'll certainly look into that......
Looks like you have been busy with the green turning, I likr the looks of them.

Was that using a bowl saver as well or just smaller blanks?

Thanks again for your hard work, and the info on the cream.

Gab

[Woodturnerjosh]

No worries Gab,
All those bowls (14) are from 5 blocks using the bowl saver. I saved 4 300mm centres and 5 250mm centres. I had space for larger cores to be taken but my centre saver doesn't do any bigger.

Josh

[INVENTOR]

silky oak can be very nasty, give it a wide berth. I found I can't go anywhere near it, without suffering similar effects to what you have mentioned.

[Alastair]

Also to note there are 2 species which are called "Silky Oak". Southern Silky, (spp Grevilliea) is the one I've found worse. However simple precautions have usually been enough for me.
Northern Silky seems to be much less irritant. I built a full kitchen from it w/o any problems.

regards

[Gabriel]

Also to note there are 2 species which are called "Silky Oak". Southern Silky, (spp Grevilliea) is the one I've found worse. However simple precautions have usually been enough for me.
Northern Silky seems to be much less irritant. I built a full kitchen from it w/o any problems.

regards

Thanks for the tip.... I do have some northern silky which I was about to put in the 'donate' pile..... I won't be too hasty with that one then....

[Pat]

Gab, I'll take the Northern Silky off your hands, yes I know, truly a magnanimous offer :U